Steamed sugar buns with peanut-sesame filling

Mix 180 g water with a tablespoon of sugar and three quarters of a teaspoon of instant yeast; use cold water in a hot house, warm water in a cold one.

Slowly pour into 350 g all-purpose flour, stirring with chopsticks; gather by hand into a rough dough, scraping the bowl.

Knead in 2 tsp vegetable oil until absorbed and the dough is smooth; the oil keeps the starch from retrograding so the buns stay soft.

Cover and proof for an hour and a half.

Bake raw peanuts and sesame seeds in separate containers in a 350F oven for 12 minutes; cool, rub the skins off the peanuts and blow them away.

Blend the peanuts and sesame seeds coarsely; mix with 140 g white sugar and 4 tsp all-purpose flour.

When the dough has almost doubled and a poked hole stays, punch it down to remove the irregular bubbles.

Knead 6 minutes, pressing with the palm and body weight, pulling back and turning, to break up air pockets for finer, fluffier bubbles.

Poke a hole to make a ring, cut it open into a log, roll it even and divide into 10 pieces of 50 to 55 grams; roll each into a smooth ball by folding and tucking the edge under.

Cover with plastic wrap and rest about 10 minutes to relax the gluten.

Dust a ball with flour and roll to 4 inches, then roll the edge thinner to about 5 inches, leaving a thick middle.

Cup the wrapper, add about 2 tbsp of filling, and pleat the edge all the way round, twisting and pinching to close.

Place in the steamer on parchment, spaced apart; cover and proof 30 minutes.

Put room-temperature water in the pot, set the steamer on top over high heat; when steam appears, lower to medium-low and steam 10 more minutes.

Turn off the heat and leave covered at least 5 minutes so the skins do not shrink.

Variation: freeze steamed buns up to about 3 months; re-steam from frozen 15 to 20 minutes over medium heat.